Water, energy audit by GVMC

An agency will soon take up energy and water audit for GVMC and suggest measures to plug leakages and pilferage and improve energy efficiency.

The water audit covers the all-important non-revenue (NRW) water, the water that is pumped to its reservoirs and supplied to various categories on which it is not getting revenue proportionately. Presently, the NRW, that includes water supplied through public taps in GVMC, is estimated at 40 %.

"The audit will be taken up as a part of the smart city reforms under the Ministry of Urban Development. The agency finalised will submit a report on various measures to be taken to make NRW revenue-earning and improve energy efficiency," Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan told The Hindu.

Visakhapatnam has won eighth place in the first smart city challenge of the Union Government and is also one of the three cities selected in the country for drawing up smart city master plans with US collaboration.

Spending ₹ 48 crore on electricity bill alone for water supply, getting more revenue will help GVMC improve services.

As GVMC plans to add more household connections under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) better managing supply and energy is important.The study will include pipeline networks from filtration points to service reservoirs and from there to supply connections, it is learnt.

Besides, energy efficiency is also a key area helping it save on consumption and consequently, power bill. To keep the water supply system running, GVMC utilises more than 200 motors of varying capacities- from 1 HP to 1500 HP.

Of late, efforts are being made to inch towards power factor of one that denotes effective utilisation of power supplied, it was learnt.